A Study of Student Consultants’ Comfort Levels With Research-Related Tasks

Student consulting is a form of problem-based learning through which students work on strategic issues for organizations. To explore how students perceive their research-related tasks, 15 student consultants were asked to evaluate their comfort levels with seven tasks—adapted from the Association of College and Research Libraries' Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education—in three contexts: class assignments, consulting projects, and future workplaces. The comfort levels revealed by the students have implications for a variety of instructional settings and offer many directions for future studies.     

Libraries Across the Education Continuum: Relationships Between Library Services at the University of Montana and Regional High Schools

This study explores the library instructional programming and resources of high school library media centers in western Montana with the intent of documenting and understanding both the services provided to and the experiences of first-year college students at the University of Montana. Results from the survey (n = 22) and site visits (n = 10) reveal wide variation in the levels and types of library instructional programming provided at the library media centers, including media specialists’ perceptions of high school students’ information literacy skills. However, consistency was seen in the media specialists’ collection management strategies and in collection content. The results suggest implications for first-year library programming and highlight opportunities for further 9–16 collaboration and study.     

Information Literacy and Research-Intensive Graduate Students: Enhancing the Role of Research Librarians

This article investigates how psychology graduate students find information for coursework and research, who teaches them how to find it, and whether differences emerge over the course of their graduate careers. Findings indicate that these graduate students are comfortable using campus libraries, prefer electronic resources, ask supervisors when they need assistance locating information, and have some interest in furthering their information literacy knowledge. Finally, the master's students use different information management skills than do the PhD students, as evidenced by the use of bibliographic management software. Suggestions for furthering the role of research librarians focus on being more proactive, rather than expecting students to come to librarians for assistance.     

Critical Information Literacy Beyond the University: Lessons From Service in a Women's Health Interest Group

Library instruction methods most frequently focus on teaching students searching skills to navigate the maze of library databases to locate appropriate research materials. The current theory of critical information literacy instruction calls on librarians to spend more of their time in the classroom focused on understanding the social, political, and cultural construction of knowledge. In this article, the author provides a case study of the information environment in the National Women's Health Network, a women's health interest group, to help librarians facilitate nuanced discussions with students on the applicability of interest group literature inside and outside of the university classroom.     

An Opportunity,Not a Crisis: How Google Is Changing the Individual and the Information Profession

ABSTRACT

This article explores some of the key impacts that Google and new technologies such as Web 2.0 have had on the way people see information and information professionals and presents the argument that much of what is typically seen as negative about Google is, in fact, positive.     

Taking Library 2.0 to the Next Level: Using a Course Wiki for Teaching Information Literacy to Honors Students

ABSTRACT

How do educators capitalize on students’ comfort with ubiquitous communications in order to develop information literacy skills required in the 21st century? A curriculum materials librarian and a professor in the School of Education present an approach that uses library instruction, online research scaffolds, and peer evaluation within a class wiki to enhance student research practices and academic achievement. The explosion of information sources and access to networked technologies has provided the opportunity to “ratchet up” the expectations for student research in higher education. The Association of College & Research Libraries's information literacy standards for higher education provide a framework for setting these expectations. The authors describe features of an introductory education course that seeks to enhance honors freshman students’ knowledge of library research resources, efficient research skills, and scholarly writing, as described in these standards.     

Integrating STEM Information Competencies into an Undergraduate Curriculum

ABSTRACT

Students in science disciplines often arrive at college without experience using primary science literature and lacking in skills required to manipulate information. A cohesive, curriculum-integrated information literacy program is crucial in teaching science majors how to determine information needs and to locate, evaluate, synthesize, and use information. Described are the best practices, challenges, and assessment tools as applied in the implementation of a four-year science information literacy program at a large state university.     

The Embedded Science Librarian: Partner in Curriculum Design and Delivery

ABSTRACT

Information literacy is essential for success in undergraduate science programs, but teaching faculty are generally ill-prepared or unwilling to provide intentional support in their courses. Librarians are uniquely qualified to help. In this article, the author presents one example of a faculty–librarian collaboration in which the science librarian is embedded in a first-year, undergraduate course in nanoscience, both as a codesigner of the curriculum and a member of the teaching team. She traces her progress from new appointee to faculty partner, and describes the unique, electronic-journal project they designed to promote the development of information and academic literacies.     

Still Desperately Seeking Citations: Undergraduate Research in the Age of Web-Scale Discovery

ABSTRACT

Web-scale discovery services promise fast, easy searching from a single Google-like box, pleasing users and making library resources more discoverable. Some librarians embrace the concept of giving users what they have come to expect from Google, while others are concerned that this will “dumb down” searching and undermine information literacy. In this article we explore the potential impact of Web-scale discovery tools on information literacy, focusing particularly on undergraduate research skills. We review the existing literature and present findings and experiences from two mid-sized academic libraries that have adopted EBSCO Discovery Service as their library home page portal.